 | |
| Category | Kart racing |
|---|---|
| Country | France |
| Affiliations | FFSA |
| Inaugural season | 1993 |
| Folded | 2011 |
| Classes | 2 (Star, Junior) |
| Last Drivers' champion |  Jules Bianchi(Saturday Final) Jean-Éric Vergne(Sunday Final)  Charles Leclerc(Junior) |
TheMasters of Paris-Bercy, officially known as theElf Masters for sponsorship reasons, was anindoorall-starkart racing competition organised by theFFSA.
Founded in 1993 by formerFormula One driverPhilippe Streiff, it was hosted until 2001 on a temporary circuit at thePalais Omnisport de Paris-Bercy. Streiff founded the Masters with the intention of bringing together the best drivers from all disciplines of professionalauto racing and karting.
In 2011,ERDF revived the competition as a one-off event withelectric karts, known as theERDF Masters Kart.
The first edition of the Elf Masters took place on 18 and 19 December 1993. Two races were held each evening, a relay race contested by teams of three drivers (a Formula 1 driver, a driver from another discipline of motorsport, and a young kart driver) and a race counting towards the CIK Championship. This weekend marked thelast duel on the track betweenAlain Prost andAyrton Senna.
In 1994 the team relay was replaced by a simple race between the big names in motorsport. It was a battle betweenAlain Prost andMichael Schumacher that held the Bercy arena in suspense. French driverJean-Christophe Boullion won the first race on Saturday andAlessandro Zanardi won on Sunday.
In 1995, Prost and Schumacher did not participate and it was a young French driver,David Terrien who won the first race ahead ofGianni Morbidelli. On SundayLuca Badoer won the race ahead ofDavid Terrien.
In 1996, the relay race returned andMichael Schumacher came back to Bercy and started all the weekend's races. He won the CIK race on Sunday.
In 1997,Jacques Villeneuve started at Bercy. On SaturdayAlessandro Zanardi won the F1 race.Mika Salo won on Sunday.
In 1998,Mario Andretti,Jody Scheckter andMick Doohan came to Bercy.[1] Also competing were names such asDario Franchitti,Tony Kanaan andFernando Alonso who would later find success in higher racing categories.Emmanuel Collard won on Saturday andJean-Christophe Boullion won on Sunday. That yearFernando Alonso won the first CIK race andGiorgio Pantano won the second.
In 1999, no high-profile motorsport and F1 stars were present.Stéphane Sarrazin won the first superfinale andFranck Montagny the second. This yearRobert Kubica won the second CIK race.
In 2000, the three-driver relay race was reintroduced and it was the French team ofSébastien Bourdais,Jean-Christophe Boullion and Julien Poncelet that won on Saturday. The European team ofFranck Lagorce,Clivio Piccione andFélix Porteiro won on Sunday.Lewis Hamilton won one of the support races.
In 2001, the relay team ofVitantonio Liuzzi, Davide Forè andFranck Lagorce won the superfinal.Sebastian Vettel won the junior race ahead ofNico Hülkenberg. It was the last edition of the Elf Masters.
In 2011,ERDF revived the competition as a one-off event withelectric karts, won byJules Bianchi on the Saturday andJean-Éric Vergne on the Sunday.Charles Leclerc triumphed in the junior class on both days.
The ERDF Masters Kart in 2011 usedelectric karts supplied by French companySodikart, capable of producing 30 kW with top speeds in excess of 100 kph.[2][3]
| Chassis | Sodi ST32[2][3] |
|---|---|
| Motor | Sodi STX 65VBLDC[2][3] |
| Battery | NMC[2][3] |
| Autonomy | 15 minutes |
| Recharge | 30 minutes |
| Brakes | Hydraulic with manual front brakes[3] |
| Tyres | Dunlop[2] |
| Power[a] | 22 kW (30 hp) at 14,000 rpm[2][3] |
| Weight | 114 kg (251 lb) |
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The Masters of Paris-Bercy was contested at thePalais Omnisport de Paris-Bercy, a sportsarena in the neighbourhood ofBercy, in the12th arrondissement of Paris. The track was 0.550 km (0.342 mi) long, with an average width of 8 m. Approximately half of this length was outside of the main arena, but still under cover. The track was lined withTecpro barriers for driver protection.[4]